The Smiles of a Guilty Mind
by Oblivian03
Summary: The actions of one dueler, former soldier and former self-proclaimed hunter haunt his mind as much as ghosts haunt the city that he helped ruin. Post-series. For a prompt.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh Arc V or any of its plot, characters or related franchise.**

 **This is a drabble from a prompt. Set post-series.**

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The sight of it all made him wince. The half fallen buildings, the empty shells of houses, the rubble that littered the streets – he was responsible for this. Not him alone in truth, but he was responsible for it nonetheless.

The former Fusion soldier wondered if anyone would recognise him and what they would do if they did. Perhaps they would listen to his apology. Perhaps they would simply attack him driven by the same anger Kurosaki had almost fatally felled him with. From what he had seen these were an angry people, but then again it had been those from the Fusion Dimension who had made them so. It had been him who had made them so.

Dennis wondered if there was a special place in hell reserved for those who had destroyed the smiles of others.

The curly haired teenager had been walking through the ruins of Heartland for a while now. Not many knew he was there; maybe Sora and undoubtedly Reiji Akaba, but no others knew of his whereabouts or intentions. It was better that way, Dennis had concluded. His business to make amends was his business alone, his burden alone.

He gave a small self-depreciating smile. Come what may of his visit, good or ill for him, his burden would be somewhat alleviated by the end of it.

He could not say the same for the scars the war had left around him.

No body had bumped into him as he had walked. The streets – if one could call the ruined mess streets – were far from deserted, but no one had collided with him like they would do in a normal and flourishing city. Every person was too wary, avoiding others where they could, bunching together with those they knew and trusted. Fingers twitched for ever present duel disks, ready for anything that might come cackling out of the skies once more.

Dennis' own duel disk was card-less; a mere means for him to travel from the defeated Fusion Dimension to the devastated Xyz. He had no need for cards here. He was no invading soldier, not any more. Any fight would not be initiated or ended by him.

The red head paused for a moment in his meaningless wandering, wondering for the first time at how what was once such a bright and cheerful place had transformed into a wasteland of ghosts, both living and dead. Every time the wind blew eerie screams surged through the air. Every falling piece of debris stirred up a cloud of dust that seemed as wrathful as it did wraithlike.

He passed a crumbled wall near the outskirts of the city and swallowed. It had been an Chaos Ancient Gear Giant or similar monster. In all likelihood it had been his own hand who had caused the wall's terrifying destruction drawing screams from terrified men and woman and children.

Children…

They were the worst in sight to see. Sullen faced and unsmiling they wandered about with guardians, old and young, blood related and not, through the shell of their former home. There were no laughing children, no children playing on the footpaths as he had seen in both the Standard and Synchro Dimensions, as he had seen in the Xyz Dimension before it all. There were now no footpaths for such children to play on.

The remorse inside him grew a little heavier at that thought, a little more vicious as it latched onto his soul.

To think that he had wanted to entertain; he had been far from entertaining here by the end of it all. If they never forgave him it would be more than he ever deserved. Another shamed smile drew itself across Dennis' lips, a hollow gasp that was something like a laugh dropping from them.

The sound was echoed by the near soundless gasps of another ahead of him.

The former duelist of Academia looked up and started slightly at the sight of an extremely young girl standing alone in the derelict street. She could be no more than five, but alone she was and all the more fearful for it.

Yet another consequence of his past wrongs.

"Hello, little girl. Are you lost?"

His voice took on the same charming tone he had masqueraded as so often before. Even now it was still a mask, only for a guilty soul instead of a merciless soldier.

Dennis forced his lips to tweak in a small and reassuring smile, forced kindness into his eyes by drawing on the same joy he had felt when entertaining, truly entertaining, crowds and crowds of people.

"I won't hurt you," he said. "A dashing fellow like me; I couldn't hurt anyone."

But, o, what a lie that was. The wide eyed girl before him, however, did not need to know of the crimes that burdened his conscious. At the very least, his words were not a lie in the present in which they breathed.

The teenager knelt on the ground and inclined his head and body towards the lost child. He widened his smile a little, flashing a few dazzling teeth as though he were Yuya Sakaki finishing a duel for a crowd.

"Do you want to see some magic? No cards. No tricks. Just magic."

He received no response, although the girl was now looking at him with unreadable eyes. Undeterred, Dennis sent one hand searching along the ground, finally picking up a shiny pebbly and holding it for her to see.

"Watch closely now," he said. "And I'll make this rock disappear."

A few movements of sly fingers and several elaborate distracting gestures later and he had succeeded in achieving his aim. Spreading both palms in front of him, the red head addressed the child once more.

"What did I tell you? Magic."

The girl's lips twitched.

Dennis grimaced internally. Her young haunted face was his fault. As such, it seemed he would have to try a little harder.

"Unimpressive, I know," said the entertainer that had once been inside of him and maybe still was. "The real magic is when I make it appear again from nothing!"

It took several more dramatic gestures and those sly fingers of his almost slipped once too often, but eventually the shiny pebble from before was sitting snugly back in his hand.

The girl's lips twitched a little more.

"Alicia, come away! What have I told you about strangers?"

The girl's mother swooped in from nowhere and everywhere, scooping up her daughter's hand and sending a fearfully suspicious glance Dennis' way. Just as quickly they disappeared like ghosts, fading into the dreary background of their ruined home.

Dennis sighed and tilted his head up towards the sky. Closing his eyes, he almost loosed a hollow laugh. When would this burdensome guilt that weighed on his mind and heart and soul ease?

"Excuse me, mister."

A small hand tugging on the hem of his coat dragged the former soldier's eyes back down to his hellish work once more. A small face stared back up at him, accompanied by two more. Orphans.

"We were wondering…if you could…show us…that…trick."

Now that the boy's gaze was being returned he had lost the nerve needed to approach a stranger. Still, to his credit he did not back down, a bit of the iron that the red head had seen in Kurosaki and his sister, in all the Heartland inhabitants, hardening the bold edges of his eyes. The iron, however, was muted in the face of something far stronger and infinitely more fragile – innocent hope. And if he could paint a curved line of happiness from that hope…

Dennis smiled, the arc of his lips just a little more sincere than before. He took a step back and then a low bow, preparing, like any entertainer, for a show.

"So you want to see some magic? Then you've come to the right place. No cards used here. No tricks either. Just pure magic!" 

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**This was a prompt from Flokingaround: _'a guilt-ridden Dennis coming to the xyz dimension seeking atonement or redemption for his acts in the war but instead finding peace in bring smiles back to the children growing in the wasteland'._**

 **Note: Whilst I have written this as a response to a prompt, I do know what happens to Dennis later in the series (even if I am not up to it yet in the actual watching of the anime) where he seals himself inside a card. Personally I believe he would remain in the card post-series. Despite this, I did like this idea enough to write this short drabble-like thing about it.**

 **Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this (and that I did alright with the prompt). Please leave a review if you feel so inclined.**


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